Central Office for Gender Equality & Diversity

Welcome to the Central Office for Gender Equality & Diversity!

Fulda University of Applied Sciences is committed to their work towards gender equality and equal opportunities in all its departments as well as in its administrative services. We are constantly working on supporting our students in their personal and professional development and growth, on providing an enjoyable environment for each individual student as well as employee, and improving our university where necessary and possible.

On this page you will find an overview of our general work, our recent projects, helpful links as well as contact information in case you have further questions.

Contact

Birgit
Hohmann

Our Work

GENDER EQUALITY & WOMEN

In terms of quantitative gender equality, Fulda University of Applied Sciences can already provide impressive numbers. 58% of our students and approximately 66% of our employees are women. However, despite these high numbers, the percentage of women varies significantly depending on the department of work or study.

Our university is committed to its social responsibility of creating, promoting and sustaining equal opportunities for all genders. In order to secure the progress already made and to successfully further build upon it, Fulda University of Applied Sciences has institutionalized its work for gender equality in the Central Office for Gender Equality & Diversity, takes great effort in incorporating gender mainstreaming into all decision-making processes as well as quality management, and works consistently on implementing further rules and guidelines on gender equality.

In 2009 our university published a first collection of all projects, principles and statistics relevant to the issue of gender equality which was updated in 2013. A German version of the "Gleichstellungskonzept 2.0" is available for download. You may also pick up a printed version at the Central Office for Gender Equality and Diversity.

In an internal agreement, Fulda University of Applied Sciences has contractually obliged itself to increase the percentage of women in every department they are underrepresented in at the moment before the end of 2019.

The TOTAL E-QUALITY-certificate and the CEWS-ranking are only two examples of programs that attest our commitment to and our success in the field of gender equality.

DIVERSITY

Fulda University of Applied Sciences is committed to provide an inclusive and welcoming climate on campus that not only respects each individual but enables them to participate fully in all aspects of their work or student life.

Modernization, internationalization and sensitivity for different life-experiences and individual needs have already started to shape learning and teaching at our university. In order to provide a strategic foundation to, and to monitor and boost this progress, our university is currently working on developing a complete diversity-concept and profile specifically for our organization.

The participation in the diversity audit “Vielfalt gestalten” shows not only the commitment of our university to realize its goals on equal opportunities but its willingness to learn and improve as an organization in order to provide the best possible experience for students and employees alike. In February 2017 Fulda University of Applied Sciences completed the audit and received its diversity certificate.

To protect all our students, co-workers, and visitors from any form of discrimination, we are currently working on installing an anti-discrimination policy as well as an additional department.

Current Projects

frauen@hs-fulda - Series

frauen@hs-fulda is an ongoing workshop series designed to support female students in their personal development, and to help them shape their professional profiles. The series provides valuable information on topics such as career start and job applications, finances, self-confidence or life-work-balance.

This semster it's all about communication. The schedule includes workshops on:

Diversity-Audit

Students at our university are very divers. They differ in age, ethnicity, their social backgrounds, abilities, family statuses, etc.

Our main goal is to institutionlize diversity and anti-discrimination within our organization and to continuously built upon the work that had been initialized throughout the auditing process.

The JPMorgan Chase Foundation has funded the auditing process with 15,000 Euro. Dr. Daniela De Ridder, member of the German Parliament and founder of CEDIN Consulting, supervized the progress and assisted our work as the official auditor until the process was completed in February 2017 when Fulda University of Applied Sciences proudly received the certificate.

The Auditing Process

At the certification ceremony

Women in Science

Fulda University of Applied Sciences aims to support aspiring female scientists in all our departments. Increasing the number of female professors in general and the number of students in our STEM-programs, as well as securing and creating career opportunities for post-grad students seeking a career in science are our main priorities.

Quality standards as well as transparency and the involvement of our women's representatives in all our appointment procedures ensure that women who apply for a teaching position at our university will not be discriminated against.

Today, the percentage of female professors at our university is at 44 percent.

In order to provide more opportunities for women working towards a doctorate degree, scholarships are partly funded by the department for gender quality. Additionally, Fulda University of Applied Sciences offers different networking and mentoring platforms for students and doctoral candidates, especially those working in the STEM field. The MentoringHessen programme is one popular example.

Our scientific departments continuously aim to recruit outstanding graduates for research and assistant positions at our university to keep promising scientists and researchers here in Fulda.

Language and Communication Guidelines

Language and communication influence our perception of reality. According to the prinicples of our university and campus culture we aim to provide a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. In order to raise awareness for discrimination in language, we have compiled a number of guidelines focused on gender and diversity in the German language.

While a neutral and appropriate language is fitting for most contexts, the guidelines also provide instruments to increase visibility of marginalized groups in order to prevent a normality bias and a harmful belief in default rules.

We urge all memebers of our university to refrain from using phrases and images that reproduce biases and stereotypes and instead normalize an inclusive language that makes every person feel welcomed and valued.